


With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear

by Supernatural_addict



Category: Smallville
Genre: AU (sort of), Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Clark Kent Angst, Clark is Blind, Clark reveals his powers to Lex, Clex - Freeform, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I miss Smallville lol, Identity Reveal, M/M, They're cute, and then Lex comes and comforts him, but I kind of wished it had lasted a little longer myself, but if you've seen the show, for a little bit - Freeform, it doesn't last super long, lmk if I need to add any warnings, only at the beginning, tag s3ep10: Whisper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28561050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Supernatural_addict/pseuds/Supernatural_addict
Summary: Tag/AU to s3ep10: Whisper where Clark is blind. (The AU part comes in in that Clark has not told Pete about his powers, and his parents are the only ones that know.)Clark is struggling with the loss of his sight, more than he wants anyone, especially his parents, to know. He's fine. He is!Thankfully, a certain someone comes along and, noticing Clark's frustration, hastens to comfort and reassure him.Or: Clark is angsty and Lex comforts him, leading to fluffy confessions (of love and other things).
Relationships: Clark Kent/Lex Luthor
Comments: 6
Kudos: 41





	With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! I just gotta say, I love this episode so much. Plus, I miss the Clex dynamic of the earlier seasons, so I decided to combine the two. Besides, we can always use more angst and hurt/comfort.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!  
> (Please let me know if I need to add any tags/warnings!)

Clark was trying his best not to get frustrated with his parents and friends. They were just worried about him, and with good reason, he conceded. But just because he couldn’t see anymore didn’t mean that he couldn’t do anything at all anymore. His parents especially had no reason to treat him like an invalid. They knew about his powers. He may have lost his x-ray vision and heat vision with the loss of his sight, but he still had his strength and speed, not to mention his new enhanced hearing.

He was fine, dammit! He slammed his hand against the barn wall but in his frustration, he forgot to hold back and he broke through the thick wood.

Growling to himself, Clark pulled his hand to his chest and hoped that nobody had seen that. He didn’t need them hovering or asking him if he was okay because he was! He was fine. He just needed to adjust.

He sank to his knees on the floor and bent over them, wrapping his arms over his head and closing his eyes, for all the good that did him, and tried not to let the gathering tears escape. He was fine.

~ ~ ~

Lex stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching as Clark finally started to fall apart.

When his friend collapsed to the floor and curled in on himself, Lex spurred himself to motion. He mounted the steps and stopped next to Clark, crouching down and putting his hand on his shoulder. Clark tensed and his head whipped up, sightless eyes searching frantically for something he couldn’t see. Lex winced.

“It’s just me, Clark. Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Lex reassured him, taking his hand off Clark’s shoulder.

Clark immediately relaxed only to tense up and straighten a moment later. “Hey, Lex,” he said, voice falsely cheery as he plastered a painfully fake smile on his face. Lex noticed the redness around his eyes and the tear tracks down his cheeks and his own usually repressed emotions rose to the surface as his heart began to ache for his friend.

Clark scrambled quickly to his feet, that horrible mockery of his usually sunny smile still on his face. Lex slowly stood up and studied his friend closer.

Clark held himself defensively, shoulders hunched and head tilted to the side. His eyes were focused blankly somewhere down and to the left of where Clark must think him to be.  
Clark’s smile wavered. “Lex?” He questioned, the fear he was obviously trying to hide creeping into his voice.

Lex startled from his intense examination and smiled apologetically before he remembered that Clark couldn’t see him. “Sorry, Clark,” he said, “I’m still here. I just,” he trailed off, unsure what to say. “God, Clark, I’m so sorry. You must be feeling awful.”

Clark’s false smile grew wider and more forced. “Thanks, Lex, but I’m fine.” He said, voice carefully controlled.

Lex stepped forward and brought his hand up to brush the tear stains on Clark’s cheek. “I think these beg to differ,” he whispered. Clark froze and Lex realized what he had just done, immediately dropping his hand and stepping back. Ducking his head, he was almost glad that Clark couldn’t see because he was sure that he was blushing. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Glancing back up, Lex was startled to see fresh tears welling in Clark’s eyes and slipping down his face. “I’m sorry,” Clark sobbed, closing his eyes and covering his face with his hands. He ducked his head and somehow managed to curl in on himself even more.

Lex was out of his depth and stood there in shock for a moment. He’d never seen Clark like this before. Sure, he’d seen his friend angry before, but the young man was usually unbelievably happy, all bright eyes and dazzling smiles.

Lex stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Clark’s ridiculously broad shoulders, pulling him into a hug. “Don’t be sorry, Clark,” Lex said. “It’s okay. No one would expect you to be perfectly fine right now. In fact, I’d be extremely suspicious if you weren’t hurting.”

Clark let out another sob and moved his arms to wrap around Lex’s back and buried his face in Lex’s shoulder.

Lex used one hand to rub circles on his back while he used the other to card through Clark’s unreasonably silky hair comfortingly. “It’s alright, Clark. Let it all out.”

God, Lex couldn’t imagine what Clark was going through. To lose one’s sight so suddenly, so unexpectedly, it has to be a very rough shock to one’s system. Clark had lost his sight and he was struggling, hurting. But Lex knew him; Clark would have been holding it all in, putting on a brave front and pretending to be fine so that his parents wouldn’t worry about him.

It was only when he thought he was alone that Clark had dropped his “I’m fine” façade. Only he wasn’t alone, Lex had been there. Lex swore that he would always be there for Clark.

Lex had no idea how long they stood there, Clark crying into Lex’s shoulder as Lex made reassuring noises and rubbed comforting circles into his back. Eventually, though, Clark pulled back and wiped his red, swollen eyes. Sometimes, it was easy to forget how young Clark was. You would be fooled by his head standing above you at over six feet and his broad, sturdy shoulders squared in defiance.

You would see the strong jaw and muscles built up from years of farm work and forget that he was only sixteen.

Lex knew that he fell for those broad shoulders and old, haunted eyes, and forgot that Clark was still in high school far more often than he’d like to admit.

Now, however? Clark looked small and broken, young and scared.

“I’m sorry,” Clark muttered, breaking Lex from his musings. Clark pulled away and once again curled in on himself, wrapping his arms around himself and hunching his shoulders, his head hung low so Lex couldn’t see his face.

Lex barely suppressed the wounded, sympathetic sound that fought to leave his throat. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Clark,” Lex said, surprised by how calm he sounded. He loved the Kents, despite Johnathan’s hatred of him, but if Clark thought that he had to apologize for showing emotion, for being understandably traumatized? Then Lex needed to have a word with his parents.

Lex’s father was a monster. Lionel had beaten it into him from a young age that emotions were weakness.

He'd be damned in Clark had to feel the same way.

“Losing your sight like this is understandably traumatizing and no one will fault you for being upset,” Lex said sternly, resting his palm on Clark’s tear-stained cheek. “You are allowed to be upset, you are allowed to be hurt and scared, Clark. It’s okay.”

Clark sniffled and a small, broken but genuine smile graced his face. Lex felt his heart lighten at the sight.

“Thank you, Lex,” Clark said softly, carefully. “I think I needed to hear that.”

Lex smiled softly, sadly, back at his friend, his best friend, the young man who had taught him so much about love and how to take care of himself properly, and lamented the fact that he couldn’t see it.

“Of course, Clark.” Lex dropped his hand from Clark’s cheek to his shoulder and brought the other one to his lower back. “Now,” he said, grinning widely, “What say you and I head over to the mansion and find something to cheer you up.”

“You cheer me up,” Clark said and Lex froze, stunned. He sucked in a sharp, surprised breath. He stared at Clark in shock.

Clark, too, had frozen, had realized the words that he had just let tumble off his tongue.

Lex watched as Clark’s cheeks flushed a brilliant red, his ears quickly following. Clark immediately began to stutter and stammer out apologies and excuses.

“Oh God, Lex, I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it! I mean, I meant it but not like—I mean it as you’re my friend and it cheers me up to see, well, not see you, not anymore, but I mean you’re my best friend and—”

Lex shut him up by gently kissing him, softly, carefully. It was tentative, unsure. Lex pulled away after only a moment, though he did so reluctantly (Clark’s lips were just as soft as he’s thought they’d be), and pressed their foreheads together.

“As endearing as your ramblings are, it’s okay.” Lex closed his eyes and let the blissful feeling fill him from top to toe as he breathed in deeply. His nose was filled with the scents of hay, farm animals, and the wide-open expanses of the fields, of Clark. “You cheer me up, too.”

Clark laughed, a sound fueled by the stars, and wrapped his arms around Lex, drawing him in so that he was tucked tight against Clark’s firm chest with his head nestled in the crook of Clark’s neck.

“I love you,” Clark whispered and Lex’s heart swelled. He felt his eyes fill with tears at the depth, the sincerity, that he heard in Clark’s voice. It was gentle, caring, supportive, everything those words weren’t when they came from his father’s mouth.

“I—” Lex tried to get the words passed the lump in his throat. “I love you, too,” he said softly, reverently. “I didn’t understand what those words really meant until I met you,” Lex muttered. “You showed me what love was really like, taught me that it was kind and gentle and trusting, nothing like whatever it is my father feels for me. That’s not love,” Lex pulled back just far enough to press his lips to Clark’s. “This is.”

“Lex, I—” Clark trailed off, obviously having no clue what to say to that.

“It’s okay,” Lex smiled and kissed Clark’s cheek. “I just wanted you to know.”

“Lex, you-you said that love is trusting and that I taught you that, but I haven’t trusted you with my biggest secret.” Clark sounded sad and scared. “I want to, though. Now. If you’d let me.”

Lex almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Clark wanted to tell him his biggest secret, the one thing that had been driving them back and forth, apart and together all these years.

“I’ve never told anyone else. You’ll be the only one to know other than my parents.” Clark was biting his lip, his eyes averted even if they couldn’t have looked at Lex anyway. He couldn’t have looked more nervous if he’d tried.

“I’d be honored to know, Clark. And I promise, whatever it is, I’ll still be here. I won’t leave you, not now, not ever.” Lex swore, cupping Clark’s cheek and bumping their foreheads together once more.

Clark took a deep breath.

“I’m an alien.”

He blurted the words out so quickly, Lex almost wasn’t sure that he’d heard him right.

“I-I’m sorry?” he stammered, taking a step back.

“I’m an alien,” Clark repeated himself, slower this time, tentative and afraid. “I was born on a planet called Krypton. It was going to blow up so my parents sent me here to save me. The meteorites, they’re radioactive shards of my planet. They’re called Kryptonite. And they’re, as far as I know, the only thing that can hurt me.” Clark stopped, obviously waiting for some kind of reaction.

Lex was too stunned to give one. 

His best friend, the young man he loved, that had taught him to love, was an alien. He had been born on another planet. The meteor rocks—Kryptonite, he’d called them—were his only weakness.

“Lex?” Clark said, arms held out in front of him, terror on his face and in his voice. “Lex, please, say something. Where did you go?” Clark’s eyes were filled with tears and his voice wobbled.

Lex grabbed Clark’s hand and stepped back towards him, “I’m sorry, Clark. I didn’t go anywhere. I was just startled, is all. It’s quite a thing to hear.”

Clark winced. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Lex said, “It’s just… a hard claim to believe.”

“I have powers. I can show you.” Clark rushed out. “I can—well, I used to be able to see through things, like a kind of x-ray vision, and I could shoot fire from my eyes, I called it heat vision. Of course, those particular powers are gone now. But I still have my super speed, super strength, and my invulnerability. Plus, I now have super hearing,” Clark bit his lip and waited for Lex’s reply.

“That—wow,” Lex gasped. “Would you? Show me, that is.” Lex had never found himself at such a loss for words before.

“Of course!” Clark backed up and thought for a moment. “Is there anything sharp nearby?”

Lex glanced around but didn’t see anything up in the loft. “I don’t see anything up here, but I could help you down the stairs to find something?” Lex didn’t want to admit it, but he was kind of apprehensive about this idea, he didn’t want Clark purposefully hurting himself. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lex said, damn his unwillingness to express concern.

Clark rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow. “Lex, you hit me with a car at 60 miles an hour off a bridge. I’ve been shot at and left with nothing but a few bruises. I’ve stuck my arm down a wood chipper and pulled it out without even a scratch. Yes, I’m sure this is a good idea.”

Lex was left reeling from the dangerous situations Clark had just mentioned he’d found himself in, and Lex had a feeling that that was not all.

“This is one of those things where seeing is believing,” Clark said. “Also, you don’t need to help me down the stairs, I got it.”

Before Lex had the time to protest, he felt strong arms wrap around his waist and when he blinked they were downstairs and he was left with a distinct feeling of whiplash. He stumbled a step and turned to stare at Clark with wide eyes.

“How—what—you—?”

Clark’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Super speed.”

“Right,” Lex said. “Okay, uh, there are some sharp-looking tools over here,” he grabbed Clark’s hand, an unreasonable bubbly feeling filled his chest when he realized he could do that now and pushed it down to address later, and pulled him toward a wall where a bunch of farm tools were hanging on the wall.

“Cool, grab me the sharpest looking one,” Clark said. “Maybe a knife if there are any.”

Lex swallowed down the lump of worry in his throat about how bad it could be if this went wrong as he scanned the tools. He spotted what looked like a knife of some kind, though not one he had ever seen before, and carefully grabbed it from the wall.

“Here,” he said and placed it in Clark’s outstretched hand.

“Thanks,” Clark grinned at him and Lex’s heart melted. “Now, remember, I’ll be fine, this won’t hurt me at all, okay? This’ll probably look a little scary.”

As Lex’s apprehension grew once more, he stared in horror as Clark turned the blade toward himself and plunged it into his gut.

“Clark!” Lex lunged toward his best friend—boyfriend?—only to stop dead in his tracks. The knife blade had shattered, little metal shards clattering to the floor. Clark dropped the hilt off to the side and Lex reached forward, lifting the other boy’s shirt and placing his hand tentatively on the unblemished flesh of Clark’s stomach. “You-you’re not hurt. Not even a scratch.”

He marveled at the undamaged skin for a few more moments before he realized exactly what he was doing. He flushed furiously and pulled his hand back like he’d been burnt.  
He still remembered the way Clark’s skin had felt beneath his hand, however. He had known that Clark was fit, beyond fit, even, having seen the young man shirtless while doing farm chores, but he hadn’t realized just how well muscled he actually was. Those had been rock hard abs beneath his hand. Clark always wore semi-loose clothing, but now Lex couldn’t help imagining him in something with a tighter fit. He quickly cut off that train of thought, however.

“I’m fine, Lex.” Clark’s voice was soft, gentle. His hand reached out for Lex, who caught it and brought it up to cup his cheek. “Not even a scratch.”

Lex let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding.

“I believed you when you said you were invulnerable; other than to keep this particular secret, you can’t lie worth a damn. And you warned me, that it might look scary, but—when you turned that knife toward yourself, and-and just went for it, my heart still skipped a beat,” Lex whispered, drinking in the sight of Clark’s calm, very not-in-pain face, in hopes that he could replace the image he now had in his mind of Clark stabbing himself.

“Yeah, when I stuck my hand down a wood chipper, my dad freaked, despite knowing that at that point I was mostly invulnerable,” Clark laughed.

“Wait,” Lex said. “Mostly invulnerable?”

“Yeah, I used to get bruises from bullets or sore from falling a long distance, but I don’t even get that anymore. Unless I’m around kryptonite, nothing can hurt me.”

Lex took a moment to process this. 

“What the fuck, Clark,” he laughed. Clark chuckled.

“Yeah, that about sums it up.”

“Okay, okay. So, you said that you had super strength as well?” Lex asked, glancing at Clark’s biceps and remembering the feel of Clark’s abs underneath his hand.

“Yeah, there’s that, too.” Clark smiled. “Guide me to the tractor?” He asked and held his arm out. Lex looped their arms together and led Clark to the tractor just outside the barn doors.

“Here it is,” Lex said and guided Clark’s hands to the tractor’s side. Clark nodded.

He crouched and slid his hands beneath the chassis. He stood up, and the tractor came up with him. In fact, the tractor went even further up as Clark lifted it above his head. Lex swore.

Clark laughed and gently set the vehicle back on the ground.

“What’s your limit? How much can you lift? What’s your top speed? You said you used to have x-ray vision? What was that like? Could you see through anything?” Lex began spouting questions, stepping forward and grabbing Clark’s shoulders. Lex studied Clark closely as he continued to rattle off inquiries before he was cut off by Clark’s sunshine-windchime-perfect laugh.

“One question at a time, Lex.” Clark rolled his eyes, though Lex could tell the annoyance was feigned from the adoring smile on his face. “I haven’t tested how much I can lift, though it’s definitely more than just that tractor. I haven’t tested how fast I can run, either. I was kind of too busy keeping my powers secret and saving people’s lives to really test my limits. I could see through everything I tried to except lead. I couldn’t see through it, and it’s the only thing that can shield me from kryptonite.”

Lex opened his mouth to ask more questions but Clark held up a hand.

“Before you ask anything else, let’s go sit down in the loft,” Clark grinned and grabbed Lex around the waist before whisking them back into the barn and up to the loft. Lex stumbled and gave his stomach a moment to catch up with them.

“You’re blind, so you have to feel your way around when you do that, but you’re still so fast!” Lex leaned over and pecked Clark on the cheek, overcome with his excitement. “You’re absolutely incredible, Clark!”

Clark was blushing a beautiful shade of pink and Lex resolved to make him do that more often (of course, then Lex realized that he had just kissed Clark’s cheek and felt his own face flame up).

“Uh, sorry,” he said. Clark smiled.

“It’s alright. I don’t mind.”

Lex thought his face might split in two from how hard he was smiling.

“You know, if you ever want to test your strength or speed, just let me know and I’ll help get something set up for you,” Lex said earnestly as he guided them toward the couch.

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer,” Clark tugged Lex closer and wrapped him in a tight hug, nuzzling into Lex’s shoulder. They stayed like that, and Lex had never felt more content in his life.

That is, until he heard Clark start sniffling and felt his shoulder grow damp. He quickly pulled back, tamping down on the fear that seized his heart.

“Clark?” He scanned Clark’s face, chest clenching as he saw the fresh tears. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Clark laughed and pulled Lex close again.

“Nothing’s wrong, Lex. I’m just really happy. I’m so glad I finally got up the courage to tell you. My parents have drilled it into me that no one can know, and when I met you, there was an addendum: especially not a Luthor. But Lex, I trust you with my life, I would have told you my secret sooner, but I was so afraid,” Clark let out a noise that sounded like a mix between a laugh and a sob. “I feel lighter; I hadn’t realized how much this weighed on me until now,” he drew in a deep breath and his face split into that perfect-radiant-dazzling smile of his before continuing, “I love you.”

Lex’s heart threatened to burst. He was so filled with-with this feeling that could only be love, because what else could make you feel so light, so content, so happy and whole and free? He knew he was about to sound like a sappy pile of but dammit, he felt like a sappy pile of mush.

“Clark, I’m so glad you finally told me, if only because you feel better for it. I love you, Clark Kent, and nothing in the world, or beyond it for that matter, could change that. You shouldn’t be afraid, least of all of me. I will never hurt you, not on purpose anyway. You’ll have to tell me if I’m being to asshole-ish, alright?” That prompted a sugar-honey-sweet laugh from Clark and Lex’s heart melted even further. “I will do everything I can to protect you, to keep you safe. Your secret is safe with me.”

Clark was looking at him with a dopey grin and Lex couldn’t help but wonder how he had never guessed that Clark was an alien because no one on Earth could possibly look as adorable, be as kind and selfless, as Clark Kent.

“You’re amazing, Lex Luthor. And I hope to tell you that every day for the rest of our lives.”

Lex felt his face heat up once more but still refused to acknowledge it. Instead, he smiled, and grabbed the collar of Clark’s flannel. “Shut up and kiss me, you adorable dork,” he muttered.

He savored the ringing sound of Clark’s laughter as he pulled him in for a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, there it is! This started out as a short drabble I started when I was bored in class one day and grew into, well, this, lol.
> 
> Let me know what you thought!


End file.
